Review of Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) by Jackie C — 08 Jul 2010

I asked my ex about movies with Nicholas Cage in romantic lead. She suggested this and Raising Arizona. Talk about timing! A woman goes to her high school reunion and ends up in a time warp. I'd seen this decades ago and forgot the plot.

I also never knew what a beautiful film it is. Coppola pulls out all stops in this one, opening with a delirious homage to Sirk's All That Heaven Allows. Kathleen Turner gives an Oscar-worthy performance.

Cage is hilarious in an early role, and Sofia Coppola even gets a couple of scenes. The attention to detail is astounding, and the sense of past vs. present juxtapositions is perfectly balanced. The entire cluster of themes, a look at men and women, love, taking chances, and marriage, and how values change or don't change, is fairly pursued.

This is a thoughtful film with comic touches, instead of a typical genre comedy. If I have misgivings they are ones I share with other critics who have noted perhaps a too-happy ending, although it echoes the too-happy ending of Hot Tub Time Machine as well as the not-too-happy ending of It's Complicated.

This was the eighties after all. As a piece of work to study in terms of the pros and cons of happy endings it's a worthy entry. Gorgeous film to look at, one of Coppola's best, and thematically aligned with his other works that look at past nostalgia, including his recent Youth Without Youth.